Joseph housing request approved; asphalt plant tabled
by Kurt Johnson
County commissioners reviewed two conditional use permit applications Monday, voting 3-1 to approve a fourth house to be built in a rural area east of Hampton while tabling a request to allow continued use of a temporary asphalt plant which drew opposition from neighbors who testified that the facility south of Aurora created numerous problems in the past.
Eric Joseph and his father, Gerald, both testified in favor of a request for Eric to build a new house by a creek on the family’s land on North W Road near Hampton.
“I’d just like to build a house there,” Eric explained. “I have seven kids and I just need more space,” later adding that his parents often help with his children as needed.
Todd Joyce spoke up as a member of the Hamilton County Planning Commission, noting that he is not opposed to Joseph’s plan but is concerned with having planners make decisions that in effect go against the county’s zoning regulations.
“I’m noticing a pattern of additional rural housing,” Joyce began. “If we allow the fourth one, what if they come next year and they want to do five? I have no problem with the Josephs … but what’s to stop someone who wants to build on a prime irrigated quarter? We have regulations. We either need to get on track with the regulations or change the regulations. They have a prime place to build multiple houses, but where do you draw the line?”
“The way I look at it, people may want to build around creek ground,” Joseph responded. “You’re going to have people looking at those areas as opposed to farm ground.”
After closing the public hearing, commissioners discussed the growing use of conditional use permits. All four board members present said they support the Joseph’s specific housing plan, but have concerns that regulations adopted just two years ago are drawing conditional use applications.
“I understand what Todd is saying,” board chairman Rich Nelson said. “Where do you draw the line and say, ‘No more?’ I vote no because I think the regulations were put in place for a specific reason.
“I am happy that you guys get to do what you want to do (he said to the Josephs), but I want to send a signal that we as a county board and as planning and zoning don’t get into these situations,” Nelson added. “We’ve got two situations in one day with conditional use permits and we just can’t spend all our time on that.”
Commissioners Francis McDonald, Nicole SaBell and Nancy Salmon voted in favor of the request, thus it passed 3-1.
Asphalt plant stirs ire
Earlier in Monday’s meeting, a request from Werner Construction Co. to continue using a site south of Aurora for a temporary asphalt batch plant drew considerable discussion, including loud opposition from three neighbors. The site is located a mile west of Highway 14 on 8 Road, then a half mile south on P Road by a bridge.
The company used the site for approximately two years, ending the approved conditional use permit period last summer. Terry Wilhelms, safety director for the Hastings-based company, began the public hearing by reporting that the company has another project pending in the Henderson area, which prompted the additional request. He also noted that his company will be handling a job between Giltner and Phillips involving night-time work, though that job will be coordinated out of another site.
The Hamilton County Planning Commission reviewed the issue in March, ultimately denying the request on a 4-4 vote.
“Unfortunately, I was not at the planning commission meeting where they discussed the details, but we have sat in that location for two years now and to the best of my knowledge things have worked out pretty well,” Wilhelms began. “I am not aware of any issues that caused any major problems with the application.”
However, three neighbors testified that there were significant problems causing road and health concerns.
“We have a mile and a half of road that was totally destroyed,” Todd Joyce said. “They didn’t grade it every day. What did they care? Then when the road got so bad their trucks couldn’t get down it they went to the next mile and tore that one up, which is (the road) I happen to live on.”
Pat Henry testified that he was troubled by the fact that seven of 10 finding of facts reviewed by the planning commission showed noncompliance, and yet some planners still voted to allow the conditional use permit.
“Members of the planning commission I’m going to say willfully overlooked the facts and voted to ignore them,” he said, siting examples of concerns with the public’s general welfare, odor, oil residue on the nearby creek, diminishing property values and company employees using other public roads to access the site. “If we have these documents, why do four people on that board ignore it?”
Henry also noted that the constant traffic from company trucks and employees coming and going during the night made it difficult for his wife to sleep, causing health problems.
Neighbor Steve Kiner echoed the same concerns.
“The drier tumbles at night and you can hear it and smell it,” Kiner said. “We’ve got a mile and a half of ruined road in Hamilton County and we didn’t make a dime on it.”
Wilhelms responded by saying this was the first he had heard of any neighbor concerns.
“We followed the terms of the road maintenance agreement,” he said. “As far as other problems I was not made aware of those. When an issue was brought up we addressed it and took care of it,” noting that employees and third-party drivers were instructed not to use P Road. “We have complied to the terms as best we could in terms of the conditional use permit. As far as drum noise, this is the very first I’ve ever heard a complaint about drum noise and I’ve done hundreds of these all across the state.”
After closing the public hearing, commissioners discussed several specific points, asking Wilhelms for explanation.
“If we want to drive on good roads we’ve got to have an asphalt plant,” Commissioner Francis McDonald said. “I know we need an asphalt plant, but where? We’ll have to put a lot of regulations on this for you to go again. As far as I’m concerned, you can’t run at night … and we’ll have to restrict you to one way in and out for all your trucks and employees.”
Wilhelms reported that the State of Nebraska often requires night-time work when Interstate 80 is involved. After confirming the pending job with his office, he reported that the Henderson area job involves strictly day-time work and will only take approximately 30 days, currently scheduled for a July/August timeframe.
As for allegations that the road was left in poor condition when the company stopped using the site, roads supervisor Jeremy Brandt offered his input, noting that milling and eight loads of gravel per mile were put down last summer.
“When they were finished I was satisfied,” Brandt said. “They brought (the road) back to 28-foot width, and it had been much wider. Over the winter we started to see some issues, but they did attempt to follow through with the agreement.”
Commissioners discussed the company’s request at length before tabling the matter to allow more time to identify possible conditions.